At slow speed we all seem focused,
In motion we seem wrong
sang Alien Ant Farm in their song “Movies”.
Well, no, no, no. At slow speed you sound like The Calling singing “Wherever You May Go” guys. Exactly the same. The Calling are background music to wherever I go at the moment and each time I hear them I think of Alien Ant Farm and the excellent video in the movie theatre. Who else feels the same? And is it ok? Is it something new and allowable (a sort of sampling) that producers do? I felt let down when The Feelers released the single Communicate because it sounded in part exactly like the Pixies’ “Where is Your Mind” (it’s on the soundtrack of Fight Club). Then I found out that the Pixies actually produced the album that Communicate is on. That doesn’t make it right in my opinion but at least it’s not plagiarism.
I have a soft spot for bands like Blink 182 (apart from the dwarfs) and Alien Ant Farm. They’re personified anti-depressants. If they have been ripped off, it’s not fair. Does anyone agree they might have been? And if speeding things up becomes fashionable is The Funeral March going to be a hit soon?
Yeah, I s’pose they do sound a bit alike, now that I’m running them through my head. You’re saying that AAF were first, yeah? I don’t remember when the bands’ respective albums came out.
Yes, AAF were first and I made a mistake. I should have said “If slowing down becomes fashionable” then…Slipknot could become adult contemporary" or something like that. Sorry.
The Pixies ‘Where Is My Mind’ is in fact not on the Fight Club soundtrack. It plays over the closing credits in the movie, but the soundtrack is all original music composed by the Dust Brothers. ‘Where Is My Mind’ can be found on the Pixies’ album Surfer Rosa, which is very good.
I don’t like the Calling, but I don’t think they sound like AAF; they sound more like Lifehouse to me. (Does anyone else absolutely love AFF’s “attitude” ? wow) I do however, think that that band White Stripe (?) is trying to sound like the Pixies Doolittle album.
I read an article years ago about the music industry in the fifties. It seems that when singles were released in those days they were given two weeks at the most to become successful. If they weren’t making money in that short time they were just ditched in favour of other, newer stuff. Things don’t work like that anymore. Companies control what music and which artists will be successul. They make it happen. I’ve often wondered if that article about the fifities was totally true. If it was it’s conceivable that there is a huge amount of original material somewhere that could be uncovered and “re-fashioned” for today’s tastes. All that dumped fifties stuff would have had B-sides as well. Giving an old song another chance is a better deal in my opinion than trying to get more mileage out of one a few months old.